Vicky H. Pace, Appellant (plaintiff) v. Kevin J. Pace, Appellee (defendant)

Summary

The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed and remanded a divorce decree that split custody of the couple's six children along gender lines — the two girls to the mother and the four boys to the father — because the trial court offered no explanation for the arrangement and the record lacked evidence supporting it. The court held that when a trial court splits custody between parents or adopts another unconventional custody approach, it must explain its reasoning and place its findings on the record, and a decision to separate siblings must be supported by evidence of how the arrangement will impact the children developmentally. The court could not determine from the unexplained record whether the award violated the statutory prohibition against custody decisions made solely on the basis of gender, and although the trial court erred in allowing the attorney/guardian ad litem to testify as a fact witness, that error did not amount to manifest injustice. The court reaffirmed that an attorney/guardian ad litem may not be a fact witness at a custody hearing and outlined the investigation, communication, and presentation duties expected of guardians ad litem.